WARMTH
The WARMTH Initiative: What Acts Really Matter To Heal
The WARMTH Initiative: What Acts Really Matter To Heal
Many people have asked how to help following the devastation of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina, where Mel Chin Studio and SOURCE Studio is located. WARMTH is an artist guided initiative to meet the physical and sociological needs of our community in the coming months, and to nurture a relational climate of connectivity and support through our studio hub on the Cane River. Please consider donating to SOURCE Studio, a 501(c)(3) organization, to provide direct aid to rural residents and artists. Your contribution is 100% tax deductible.
Hurricane Helene’s final furious path followed a rural stretch of Western North Carolina along the Cane River. It ravaged the bridges, the roads, wiped away homes, landmarks and took lives. In its wake — we offer WARMTH. Restoration is active, but we have been informed that it will be 6 to 8 months before electricity will be restored in this area. The first freeze has come to the mountains and on the minds of all we meet is the Winter about to bring plunging temperatures. Worries of dwindling resources to cope grow as the initial influx of post-storm generosity is already starting to wane.
Our intention is to offer two kinds of warmth: 1) pragmatic warmth of needed funds and heating resources for area neighbors and artists over the next six months, and 2) the warmth of association, continuing to bridge our humanity and sustain relationships that are not divided by politics or religion.
We hold a few key objectives:
Distribute flexible funds for rural residents to support temporary heating, water, and communication needs until power is restored to the area.
Provide grants to artists who lost studios, tools, supplies and artworks in the storm.
Create a climate for sustaining the connection, empathy, and aliveness of this moment via artist guided oral history projects and gatherings in the community.
Activate the skills, resources and methodologies of Chin, SOURCE Studio and their local and national networks to support this ongoing relational culture of care.
Artist Mel Chin has lived and worked in this rural holler community of Egypt Township, NC for three decades. The stone structures that house Mel’s practice were originally built as a community center for making home goods (braided rugs, mattresses, etc). Chin’s practice has since activated a local economy by hiring, training, and engaging individuals to fabricate the physical components of artworks and produce socially engaged art, and SOURCE now organizes artist retreats and programs in partnership with Mel Chin Studio.
All funds raised will be distributed through established local connections to cover supplies and direct costs. A network of trusted individuals brings resourcefulness and technical expertise along with on-the-ground understanding of arising needs and opportunities. The scale of the initiative will evolve as funds come in and as needs continue to develop.
Contributions at any level will make a difference!
To donate by mail send check to:
SOURCE Studio
PO Box 505
Burnsville, NC 28714
Electronic Funds Transfer:
You can set up payment direct from your checking account by contacting us: info@sourcestudio.org
Your contribution is tax deductible. SOURCE Studio is a not-for-profit, certified 501(c)(3) tax exempt charitable and educational organization. Under IRS code, the full amount of your donation is tax deductible against your income.
For further inquiries, please contact info@sourcestudio.org